Economy

“The changes we are proposing represent an exciting and important opportunity to put science at the heart of everything we do because our long-term success depends on improving R&D productivity and achieving scientific leadership,” said AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot. “This is a major investment in the future of this company that will enable us to accelerate innovation by improving collaboration, reducing complexity and speeding up decision-making. The strategic centers will also allow us to tap into important bioscience hotspots providing more of our people with easy access to leading-edge academic and industry networks, scientific talent and valuable partnering opportunities.”

The bankruptcy of the city 65 miles east of Los Angeles is a national test case on whether the pensions of government workers take precedence over other payments in a municipal bankruptcy. It is a high-stakes issue for pension plans and their beneficiaries, and for Wall Street bondholders who lend money to governments.

President Pro Tem Gary Brown echoed Pugh's position, saying he also believes council will remain relevant.

"He hasn't taken any power away. I thought I heard him say that he wanted a partnership with the mayor and council to make the decisions that needed to be made. We are way ahead of ourselves with this takeaway," Brown said of the concerns voiced by residents and some fellow council members.

Meanwhile, inflation expectations are in the 25-30 per cent range (according to the opposition, based on private estimates, inflation is still running above 25 per cent despite price freezes that look set now to continue at lest until June.

Taken all together, it’s little surprise that gold sales are booming at Banco Ciudad, Argentina’s only gold trader, as citizens literally go for gold as an inflation hedge.

Although Berry's contract calls for driving and protection, that would only be a small portion of his job, Assistant County Executive June Lee said. She said the bulk of his time would be spent supervising the Alternative Work Force, a program that allows convicts to avoid jail time by performing community service projects.

One understands that in the event of a bank failure, pain will be apportioned to the shareholders and depositors in New Zealand banks. And it must certainly be an extraordinarily transparent financial system indeed so that depositors can properly assess risk, on a par with insiders.

But one might ask, in the event of a failure, what is the penalty for the politicians, the banking management, and their regulators?

At the 10 year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, more than US$40-billion a year is going to compensate veterans and survivors from the Spanish-American War from 1898, World War I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the two Iraq campaigns and the Afghanistan conflict. And those costs are rising rapidly.

The value of the virtual currency has soared almost 30 percent in the last two days. "One hundred percent of that is due to Cyprus," says Colas. "It means the Europeans are getting involved." As German economist Peter Bofinger warned in an interview with Spiegel Online: "European citizens must now fear for their money."

He referenced the failure to "connect the dots" in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the "underwear bomber" who was able to board a plan with an explosive device despite repeated warnings of his intentions. In that case, a White House review found that the CIA had all of the data it needed to identify the would-be bomber, but still failed to stop him. Nevertheless, the agency does not seem to have curbed its ambitions for an endless amount of data.

Energy

In an announcement from Terrace in northwest B.C., near the Kitimat port that has been earmarked to house major oil and gas export developments, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Vancouver lawyer Douglas Eyford has been given the task to engage with Aboriginal communities in British Columbia and Alberta and report his findings directly to the Prime Minister. He will present a preliminary report by June 28, and will issue a final report by Nov. 29.

The initiative focuses on topics including waste-water management, carbon capture, geothermal power and land reclamation. It also researches better ways to upgrade bitumen — a subject that proved controversial in Germany, where climate change is politically prominent.

“There is an ongoing campaign here in Germany with regard to oil sands, but also with regard to climate protection,” Schneider said. “We have this energy transition discussion here in Germany, which is quite intensive.”

Environment

The problem of bacteria impervious to antibiotics has moved beyond the oft-reported super bugs like MRSA (methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus) and C. difficile, and affects a “multitude” of common infections from strep throat to salmonella, the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) warns.

Vancouver-based lawyer Doug Eyford is to focus on energy infrastructure in Western Canada, but some native leaders say he has no credibility.

He is to examine First Nations concerns about the troubled Northern Gateway proposal, as well as the development of liquid natural gas plants, marine terminals and other energy infrastructure in British Columbia and Alberta.

Gold & Silver

Article suggestions for the Daily Digest can be sent to dd@peakprosperity.com. All suggestions are filtered by the Daily Digest team and preference is given to those that are in alignment with the message of the Crash Course and the "3 Es."

Governments must impose radical limits on everything from water use to greenhouse gases if they want to have any chance of ending global poverty, a group of scientists said.

States needed to tighten clean air laws, at least halve the amount of water drawn from river basins and start cutting some environmentally damaging pollution, all by 2030, they suggested.

"The stable functioning of Earth systems - including the atmosphere, oceans, forests, waterways, biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles - is a pre-requisite for a thriving global society," the Australian-led team wrote in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature.